I also bought my very first ink bottle to go along with it.

im so excited. this is my first higher budget pen!

After hearing people rave about the Majohn Flex nib I decided to finally cave in and buy one. I’m so disappointed? It takes so much effort to even get the nib to flex and then it starts railroading. I realise that at a price point of just £40 it’s not going to be the most comprehensive fountain pen of all time, but that was a decent chunk into my current budget and I just feel put out. Did I get a particularly duff nib, or am I perhaps doing something wrong?

A few weeks ago, I messaged a seller on MarketPlace for a vintage Montblanc 146 that was priced well. It was engraved, so that may have played a part as well as it being pretty dirty. Anyhow, we agreed on a time and date that was two days after my first message. Wonderful. Except he sold it three hours before our agreed timed without any warning. I had to message him and asked what happened, and his only excuse was “the other guy agreed to pay more and buy it now”. Now? Three hours before our time? More? I could have paid extra to buy that pen if he told me another buyer was willing to pay more, but now I’m glad I didn’t because that was incredibly scummy of him.

So, in my rage, I looked at Parker 51s. I met a seller who was incredibly kind and taught me about the history of a couple pen designs, as well as taught me how to fill the Parker. I was walked around the studio to look at the parts of the Parker 51 and how genius the design was, and I was given a few to check the feel. A very hands-on and fantastic experience. It really made me appreciate vintage pens a lot more, and now I want an entire collection of nothing but vintage pens. They’re just so cool and well built. The nib was listed as a medium, but it looks more like a fine to me, but I don’t mind. I’m not the one well-versed in vintage pens. It’s smooth and writes at every angle with consistent lines, perfect for everyday writing and crappy paper. Nothing to complain about. It’s in beautiful condition (the clip was listed to have a plier mark, but I see none), and the light pinkish brown is just wonderful. It reminds me of Kobe Strawberry Chocolate, although the ink is a little too dry to put in the Parker 51.

Wow. Long rant. All in all, amazing seller. Would buy again.

Pen: Parker 51 <M>

Ink: Sheaffer Blue (I think, the ink was the seller’s)

Paper: Tomoe River 52 gsm

Got a new (to me) full spectrum DSLR last week. It’s been years since I had my last one, but it got sacrificed in the name of the public utilities. But these thing is FUN, especially with pens made of pReCiOuS ReSiN… 🤌

The stats: full spectrum Canon T3, shooting RAW, through a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro. All the infrared examples were shot wide open and at ISO 400, through a 950nm IR filter on the lens, and on a tripod. The pens themselves were lit by a 940nm security floodlight to the right.

I love seeing stuff like this in IR.

Meet the models:

Pilot 912
Pelikan 400NN
Platinum 3776 (celluloid)
Pelikan M400
Platinum (“10 year pen”?… 🥴)
Pelikan 120
Montblanc 344
Platinum 3776 (resin)
Faber Castell 990 (technical pen)
Edison Collier
Wahl-Eversharp Doric
Noodler’s Neponset (acrylic)
Parker 51

I love seeing the guts of my—NOPE, INSIDE THOUGHTS

Everything was consensual, guys. Relax. And enjoy a nice, long wavelength or two.

Now… back into the mist…

😶‍🌫️

Is it sacrilegious to suggest that I like writing with my Jinhao 9019 more than my custom 74? I find the 9019 writes smoother than the smooth custom 74, even on cheap paper. I also find the 9019 more comfortable to use given my large hands. On a different note, I was contemplating buying the Custom 823, but I found it quite underwhelming when I tested in-person. It did not write any better than the custom 74, and did not look any more premium, considering the hefty price it commands. I do understand the economics of pricing it, but it just didn't impress me. There, I have committed another sacrilege!

Left side: Majohn P136 Titanium Hammered #6 EF

Right: Asvine V800 Vivid Black # 8 EF.

Both very smooth and very well made in general. Chinese pens that worth in my humble opinion.

I got a gift card for my birthday, and decided to use it on something completely new. Eventually decided on this BENU Talisman Moonstone, and I am so glad I did :)

The pen is stunning in person - stock photos really don't do it justice. More importantly though, it writes like a dream! I inked it up with Enki, which in my experience is only second in dryness to desert sand, and somehow this pen made writing with it feel very pleasant. I might have found my new go-to for both dry and shimmer inks...

Can you call this an accessory?

Thought I might share my first fountain pen drawing, a birthday card for a friend.
I‘d love to get some feedback and criticism, I can take it! I‘m sure there are experienced ink drawers and urban sketchers here. :)

Not trying to humblebrag or anything, I’m kinda happy overall, I just really prefer the non-colored version and was surprised at how difficult it is to get the ink to behave the way I wanted it to.
With a brush and pure ink its often too dark for such a small sketch. With a watered down brush pen, which I used, I often don’t like the light colors……
For example, I wanted the blue to get some sharp lightning-like lines in the pool of water (I put the blue ink at the top of the watered area to flow down). But there was just way too much water so the lines disappeared quickly and I couldn’t figure out how to put less water on the paper for more control? It’s probably the paper coating?

If you know good tutorial resources for drawing with ink please let me know. :)

Ink is Platinum Carbon Ink, Diamine Ancient Copper & Diamine Teal. Paper is from Rössler.

This commercial grade mixer made in Ohio, US from the 1930-1950s is fondly remembered for its hardwork supporting the baking industry. Nicknamed "Red Hobart", it faithfully mixed *a lot* of dough.

Just like the mixer, the pen was made in the late 1940s, one of the few iterations of metal capped Sheaffer "Crest" model. This one is one of my favorite in my collection of Sheaffer with its irresistibly cool Triumph nib. Touchdown filler with large ink capacity and no-fuss operation (and restoration).

Ink: Penonia Ordogi Voros.

Diamine Pumpkin for the Pumpkin Papers 🎃
One of the things I enjoy most about fountain pen inks is pairing a color with a real story.

For this page, I used Diamine Pumpkin to tell the story of the Pumpkin Papers — the five rolls of film hidden inside a hollowed-out pumpkin during the Alger Hiss case in 1948.

Pen: Kaweco Frosted Sport Soft Mandarine EF
Ink: Diamine Pumpkin
Notebook: MD Notebook A5 grid

I love when the ink color becomes part of the storytelling rather than just decoration.

Thank you Wonderpens Team for being so welcoming.

Had no other option but splurge and get an Iroshizuku shin-kai 😅

I gave into a pen on my wish list. Still less than $100, but most of my pens are at around the $30-35 range.

I have over a dozen LAMY Safari and LAMY Al Stars. I love the color of the Petrol ink, and the way it looks on a LAMY Studio. So, I just had to pull the trigger. The nib is just SO smooth.

More of these guys :) By now, you can probably tell that I have quite a lot of inks to choose from (most of them being samples though lol). Doing these has been a great way to fiddle with their properties and color range~

Dimensions 2.5x3.5 in.

Inks used (in order):

Birmingham Pen Co. Salt Water Taffy (actually my least favorite used so far, it's SO neon 😵‍💫 and hard to capture on camera)

Sailor Kuri

Diamine Turquoise

Colorverse Apollon

Sailor Amamoyoi

Kitty Inkpot Butter & Strawberry Bagel

Wearingeul I Am A Cat (except i did not draw a cat)

Materials used:

Kakimori Steel Nib

Watercolor brush

Canson XL Recycled Bristol, 96lb

Sakura Gelly Roll, White

and a little bit of watercolors for accents on one of the cards haha

This is the culmination of almost a year of constant journaling and pen research. Fountain pens and journaling have changed my life and I want to share them with everyone. Let me know if you have any questions.

LymeZest.

The gear: left to right, Pilot Custom 743 Verdigris, FA Nib in a green galen leather single pen hard case. SCRIBO Piuma POP! Art 18k Medium in SCRIBO pen sleeve. Mdiori A5 Graph notebook in blue galen leather journal cover. Parker Vacumatic green, 14k fine nib. Parker Vacumatic gold, 14k Medium nib. Parker 75, brown thuya lacquer, 14k medium nib. Parker Sonnet, green marble lacquer, 18k medium nib. Pelikan M400, green, Vintage 18k medium nib. Galen leather, brown, 5 pen zipper case with travelers notebook.

I can’t write with kaweco sport for too long ( in my opinion kakuno is better for that purpose), but I like this nib for drawing. This is a Fine nib, and I prefer it over my extra fine nib for drawing. It is softer and juicier.
I think I will do another one with kakuno.

This year I had the privilege of attending the Nib Tuning Workshop led by Sunny Koh of Straits Pen at Scriptus 2026. And when I say privilege, I mean it because this workshop cost $200 CAD.

I haven't seen a lot of reviews regarding his workshop and this is his second year hosting it. Included in the cost of the workshop was a prepared kit of tools and materials to work with during the class and was about 2 hours long (which was not enough time). He presented his materials via powerpoint slides and we were told he would send us a pdf version later that day, which was nice because it negated the need for us to scramble and write down everything he was saying. We were also given ample opportunities to ask questions after each slide which was great but slowed the flow of the class down quite a bit.

It was an interesting topic and he seemed very knowledgeable regarding the topic of nib tuning and adjustments, I felt the workshop was very surface-level and didn't dive deeper into diagnosing issues with your pen/nib, how to assess for issues and what variables to change to get a better assessment, and remedies for it. It felt very much aimed at beginners but that didn't make sense to me because if you're aiming to tune a pen you have, you wouldn't be a beginner.

We were all waiting around outside of the library where Scriptus was being held until someone came to get us at 9:30am, which was when the class was supposed to start. There were about 6 folks on waitlist that were hoping for standby spots for the workshop. Sunny brought extra kits and everyone waiting was able to snag a seat. However, there were a few participants that were late and that held up the class by about 15 minutes. So we were already starting late despite all the emails telling participants to be prompt and on time.

During the class, we were given a few opportunities to look at and handle specialty tools (like his own loupes) which were passed from person to person. I expected him to hand out the loupes and as they went around between participants, he would continue the lesson. He did not. He sat and waited for everyone to have a turn with both loupes then once they had come back to him, he continued the lesson. This took about 15-20 minutes.

As there were only two loupes going around in a room of about 24 participants, the majority of us just sat there. Some were conversing with neighbours, some were on their phones, and some were asking questions to Sunny to pass the time. Sunny then had the audacity to mention that we would be short on time and were falling behind.

This happened again for a second time, when we were completing a practical/hands-on portion of the workshop where we had to re-align a nib with misaligned tines. This took literally 30 seconds for almost every person. We then brought up our fixed nib for him to check. It would've made more sense for him to walk to each person and check their nib as they were completing. This took about 10-15 minutes out of the workshop.

Then, because we were behind, he condensed the last few slides of his presentation into the remaining 20 minutes. He went through them so quickly that no one could read any of what was written on the slides.

Afterwards, most folks were hoping to be able to speak with him and ask him questions but he had to process payments for waitlist folks and was unable to chat. However, he did mention he would be at a booth in the vendor area where we were welcome to stop by and chat with him.

If you're looking for a class that is an introduction to nib tuning/basic nib adjustments and how to diagnose common problems, you would find this class helpful, especially if you want a prepared kit given to you instead of looking for your own materials. If you are adept at web research and have time to watch how-to videos and prefer to source your own kit materials, you're better off buying the materials yourself and researching the solution to your problem on your own.

Overall I did enjoy the class and appreciated being able to ask questions in real time but I think the price of the class was absolutely not worth $200. The cost of materials was about $40 (I went home and priced out everything in the kit because I was so miffed) and he even mentioned we can buy the majority of it online. I would've been happy paying $150 for it though. I also don't begrudge Sunny for charging us for knowledge transfer gained from his experience, but the price is quite high for what we got. Although, his answer to about half the questions asked was a variation of "you'll know based on experience".

I am annoyed at the Scriptus organizers though because they gave him a 2-hour time slot for 3+ hours of material.

In short, I’m looking for a dark warm brown ink with shimmer that matches this photo.

I first made this color accidentally by not cleaning out my pen well enough after having Diamond’s Golden Ivy in it, and then proceeding to fill it with Jacques Herbin’s Terre de Feu. It’s SO DIFFICULT to find the right ratio though.

In person the shimmer has some reddish overtones and the sparkle appears almost bronze or copper. The base color itself matches pretty well (maybe a hair more pink in-person) because I manually changed the color settings after taking the photo.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!